Friday, December 24, 2010

going into a move, the goal is always to try to eat everything in the refrigerator, and to avoid grocery shopping at all cost. had some all-pork meatballs in the freezer from a month or so ago - made from some leftover local pig from a terrine adventure. threw some store-bought pasta sauce in a baking dish with the defrosted meatballs (there was 1c. of prego marinara sauce leftover from roommates), and reheated in a 325-deg oven until warm. cut the meatballs in half and placed them in a split white bread torpedo roll. covered the top of the meatballs with the end of a block of white cheddar cheese (also left by the old roommates), and broiled until melty. the recipe for the meatballs was most likely very close to the recipe in the post "spaghetti and meatballs, done right," except these ones were deliciously fatty, all pork, had parmesan, and a panade of some kind of bread crumb or panko and milk. happy holidays, here's a shitty-good sandwich. bam.

squeezed the liquid out of three peeled and coarsely grated small red potatoes, one peeled and grated russet potato, and a grated small onion, using a double layer of cheese cloth. removed the grated potato mixture from the cheese cloth and added to it 1 egg, 1T. of all-purpose flour, salt, pepper, and a splash of olive oil. mixed it all together. placed a 4-in in diameter patty of the potato mixture into a hot skillet containing 3T. or so of rendered duck fat. cooked on medium heat until browned and then flipped and repeated the process.

peeled and cored two medium size cortland apples. blanched 3-oz of fresh cranberries in a few cups of boiling water, until the skin cracked on all of the berries. placed the apples and blanched cranberries in a food processer and pulsed until smooth.

pulled from the refrigerator the two remaining duck legs which were confited (still not convinced that this is a word, no matter how many times it appears in print) and capped with fat after the post "pumpernickel and duck confit stuffing with braeburn apples and hazelnuts," prior to thanksgiving. reheated the legs and fat in a 250-degree oven until the fat was clear again. removed the legs from the fat and placed them skin side down in a hot cast iron skillet until the skin was crisp and brown. flipped the legs over, so that the skin side was up, and placed the skillet in a 300-degree oven until a cake tester came out warm when the thickest part of the meat was checked.

plated the legs over a smear of the apple-cranberry coulis, some mixed greens (which were lightly coated with some seasoned rice vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil), and one of the duck fat fried red potato latkes. totally spaced out on the fact that there was delicious confit jelly which had been separated from the fat after the confit process. that would have been really great reduced and served over the legs. oh well.

inform yourself

i cook with friends and these are some pictures of some of the projects/dishes/meals/etc. that i have made since january 2008. sometimes other people take the pictures and sometimes other people make the food, usually noted. if you would like more information on any of the food, please feel free to contact me (or drop a comment). i'm not looking for fame or to be recognized as a chef/cook, i have no formal training in the culinary arts and i don't claim to know what i am doing, this is simply a hobby of mine and this blog is a more linear way for my friends and family to view some interesting creations. enjoy!

[edit: i also have a different style column over on selectism. check it out.]

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